Wah Yan College, Kowloon

Wah Yan College, Kowloon (WYK; Traditional Chinese: 九龍華仁書院; Jyutping: gau2 lung4 wa4 jan2 syu1 jyun2, demonym: Wahyanite, pl.: Wahyanites) is an eminent Roman Catholic secondary school for boys run by the Chinese Province of the Society of Jesus. Located at 56 Waterloo Road, Yau Ma Tei, Kowloon, it is a grant-in-aid secondary school using English as the primary medium of instruction. It is often revered by the local community, together with its brother school Wah Yan College, Hong Kong, as one of the most elite and prestigious boys' schools in Hong Kong.

Wah Yan College, Kowloon

Aims

According to its website,^[1] WYK strives to give students the opportunity to know Christ, to provide a school/learning community of co-operation and respect, to inspire students to work for a just society and service of those most in need. The main focus of the school's mission from 2009-2014 is to enhance the learning capacity of the students.^[2]

History

Formative years

Established in 1924 by Mr. Peter Tsui Yan Sau (徐仁壽, formerly a teacher at St. Joseph's College), WYK is one of the oldest and most prestigious secondary schools in Hong Kong, and was the first English-speaking college to be administered by local Chinese. During the 1930s, Mr. Tsui, himself a devout Catholic, saw the need of the pupils for greater spiritual guidance, and decided to gradually hand over the administration to the incoming Jesuits who were looking to serve in some local educational establishments. Besides the Wah Yan Colleges in Hong Kong and Kowloon, the Jesuits also sought to form a Catholic University in Hong Kong. But with the University of Hong Kong already established in 1911, the Jesuit fathers turned to organizing a Catholic hostel for its male students, which became Ricci Hall of the University . Mr. Tsui left Hong Kong and became a successful rubber planter and hotelier in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, British Malaya. He died in Hong Kong on 19 February 1981, at age ninety three.

Pre-war developments

Before the Second World War, the school was located on Portland Street and then moved to Nelson Street in 1928. Under the auspices of A. E. Wood, Secretary for Education, the school was added to the Grant List and hence under Government subsidies. A branch was opened on Austin Road to cater to students in senior year. The premises became Tak Sun Primary School after the war. A South China Morning Post article in 1928 reported WYK to be the largest school in Hong Kong with a student population of 500. Despite new facilities, however, seniors had to cross Victoria Harbour for laboratory lessons at the Wah Yan College, Hong Kong.

In 1941 when Hong Kong was attacked by the Japanese forces, the Jesuits of the College helped organise the evacuation of the Kowloon civilians to the Island as they closed down the school. During the occupation, the Japanese prohibited its resumption on political grounds. The Nelson Street campus was so thoroughly looted that Mr. Chow Ching-nam (周淸霖), then Principal, could only salvage a small portion of school registers and documents, and the students had to bring in their own chairs when the College reopened after the war.

Expansion and maturity

Around 1947, the school authorities began the search for a new campus as its enrolment further increased. A proposed acquisition of a site on Ho Man Tin Hill Road was turned down. After negotiations with the Government of Hong Kong, a piece of former paddy field was granted and it moved to the current premises on Waterloo Road in 1952. This provision of land was large by Hong Kong standards, making WYK one of the largest campus in the urban Hong Kong area. This precedent was soon followed in the case of land provision for the Hong Kong campus, where the plot granted by the Government was also of significant size. The present campus was opened by the then Governor Sir Alexander Grantham in 1953. In 2005 a new annex of WYK was opened providing new science labs, a music room, a computer-assisted learning (CAL) room, and a student activity room.

Mr. Laurence Tam (譚志成), an arts teacher during the late 1960s, pioneered a new Chinese ink painting movement which he integrated in his curriculum experimentally. He left the school to work as a curator at the Hong Kong Museum of Art in 1971.

Photo taken from the West Gate, showing the main building (left)
with the new additions Law Ting Pong building (right)

Notable alumni

Politics

• LAU Hon-chuen (劉漢銓), former chairman of the Hong Kong Progressive Alliance
• LEE Martin Chu-ming (李柱銘), founding chairman of the Democratic Party
• LEE Philip S. (李紹麟), former Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba, Canada
• LEE Yeh-kwong (李業廣), former member of the Executive Council of Hong Kong and former Chairman of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited
• LEONG Alan Kah-kit (梁家傑), former leader of the Civic Party, former chairman of the Hong Kong Bar Association and candidate for Hong Kong Chief Executive Election in 2007
• SHIU Sin-por, head of the Central Policy Unit
• TO James Kun-sun (涂謹申), member of the Legislative Council (Kowloon West)
• TSE Paul (謝偉俊), member of the Legislative Council (Tourism Functional Constituency)
• WONG Ernest Kwok Chung (王國忠), member of the New South Wales Legislative Council, Australia

Law

• LEONG Arthur Siu-chung (梁紹中) GBS, Chief Judge of the High Court (2000-2003)

Business

• CHAN John Cho-chak (陳祖澤), former chairman of Hong Kong Jockey Club;^[3] former managing director of Kowloon Motor Bus (1933) Ltd.
• NG Stephen Tin-hoi(吳天海), deputy Chairman and Managing Director of Wharf Holdings Limited (九龍倉集團有限公司); chairman, deputy chairman of Wheelock and Company Limited (會德豐有限公司)
• YING Michael Lee-Yuen (刑李源), former chairman of Esprit Holdings Limited.
• YUEN Tin-fan (袁天凡), former CEO of Hong Kong Stock Exchange

Academics

• MAK Tak Wah (class of 1962), scientist (discoverer of T cell receptors, a key component of the human immune system),^[4][5][6]
• TSO Wung-Wai, an adjunct professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, also an active politician in Hong Kong
• WONG John Y. (黃宇和), Emeritus Professor in the Department of History at the University of Sydney and Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia

Art and performance

• CHAN Koon Chung (陳冠中), author of "The Fat Years (盛世)"
• TSANG Kenneth (曾江), actor in Hollywood productions such as Die Another Day
• Jeffrey NGAI Pang Chin (魏鵬展), founder of the "Poem and Novel (小說與詩)" magazine

See also

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Wah Yan College, Kowloon.

• Official site
• WYK Past Students' Association
• Wah Yan International Network
• Wah Yan Boys' Community
• WAH YAN COLLEGE KOWLOON ALUMNI ASSOCIATION OF ONTARIO, Canada

Grant Schools Council
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Boys' Schools	Diocesan Boys' School La Salle College St. Joseph's College Wah Yan College, Hong Kong Wah Yan College, Kowloon Ying Wa College